• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.15-24
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• 2014

Soil pollution has been recognized as a serious problem because it causes groundwater pollution through medium contacts. Although concentration of individual chemical could be more easily measured by physico-chemical analysis, it is not easy to consider the bioavailability of edaphic receptors living in soil or groundwater. To measure the toxicity of soil, the soil extracts (soil elutriates or soil suspensions in the other words) are often used due to the difficulties of extracting soil pore water. In this study, we reviewed 15 toxicity test methods found in literature to analyze the detail of each extraction method and to recommend the most frequently used extraction methods. The identified most commonly used extraction methods are as following: The 1 : 4 soil:water ratio, 24 hours shaking time, room temperature, dark, and separation of supernatant using a $0.45{\mu}m$ pore size filter.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.207-216
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• 2017

Several bioassays have been performed for assessment of the impact of polluted sediments. The direct exposure method using sediments is limited by difficulty controlling feeding and its effects on organisms. Furthermore, only macro-organisms and benthic organisms are used. To evaluate the potential application of sediment elutriate as a complementary strategy for impact assessment, copepods, small organisms with a short life cycle, were exposed to sediment elutriates, and several end-points were measured. As a result, sediment elutriates prepared from polluted sites caused growth retardation in marine copepods. In terms of molecular biomarkers, antioxidant-related and chaperone protein gene expression levels were increased in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Thus, we suggest that sediment elutriate tests can provide an effective alternative for toxicity assessment using whole sediment samples. Further studies are required to obtain sufficient data for future applications.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2005

This is a subsequent study to our previous finding that Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas, gained a so-called upper plateau concentration, around 30,000 ng/g dry weight digestive gland for benzo(a)pyrene, showed reproductive behavior but produced their ensuing reproductive outputs damaged. A serial dilution of sediment elutriates from Jinhae Bay, Korea, where pollution was progressive, were exposed to gametes of the Pacific oyster for 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min to detail the pollutant effects on very young specimens. There was an apparent critical dilution over which adverse effects are evident. This was $10\%$ of the present sediment elutriate, corresponding to 0.3 ng/g on the basis of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for the oyster. Within the dilution the embryonic development was not influenced by the duration of exposure to its gamete stage. At higher dilutions over the critical dilution, occurrence of abnormality increased dependent on the pollutant dilution and the duration of exposure. Similar trends were also found in larval mortality. However, overall, the chemical toxicity was more significant to morphogenesis than to survival, suggesting a potential recruitment of the pollutants-induced abnormal larvae in the wild population to threaten the population integrity.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.121-128
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• 2008

As an aquatic ecotoxicity test method, a bioassay using the inhibition of sporualtion of the green macroalga, Ulva pertusa, has been developed. Optimal test conditions determined for photon irradiance, pH, salinity and temperature were $100\;{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, $7{\sim}9$, $25{\sim}35\;psu$ and $15{\sim}20^{\circ}C$, respectively. The validity of the test endpoint was evaluated by assessing the toxicity of four metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) and elutriates of sewage or waste sludge collected from 9 different locations. When the metals were assayed, the $EC_{50}$ values indicated the following toxicity rankings: Cu ($0.062\;mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$) > Cd ($0.208\;mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$) > Pb ($0.718\;mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$) > Zn ($0.776\;mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$). When compared with other commonly used bioassays of metal pollution listed on US ECOTOX database, the sporualtion test proved to be the most sensitive. Ulva sporulation was significantly inhibited in all elutriates with the greatest and least effects observed in elutriates of sludge from industrial waste ($EC_{50}=6.78%$) and filtration bed ($EC_{50}=15.0%$), respectively. The results of the Spearman rank correlation analysis for $EC_{50}$ data versus the concentrations of toxicants in the sludge presented a significant correlation between toxicity and four heavy metals(Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn). The method described here is sensitive to toxicants, simple to use, easy to interpret and economical. It is also easy to procure samples and maintain cultures. The present method would therefore probably make a useful assessment of aquatic toxicity of a wide range of toxicants. In addition, the genus Ulva has a wide geographical distribution and species have similar reproductive processes, so the test method would have a potential application worldwide.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.200-206
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• 2005

We previously pointed out that the polluted sediment elutriate manifestly affected the early events of reproductive outputs in the Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas. A serial dilution of priority xenobiotic sediment elutriates determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were exposed to gametes of the oyster with different stress burdens to detail the maternal stress transfer to its reproductive outputs. There was an apparent critical concentration over which survival and morphogenesis were significantly affected with more profound damage in morphogenesis. The critical concentration which drives mortality and abnormal morphogenesis of the larvae corresponded to a dilution between 10 and 20% of our elutriate. The adverse effects of the early lives by the xenobiotic exposure over the critical concentration were magnified by the maternal stress from the exposed benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), one of the priority polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during the maturation condition. These results indicate that maternal transfer of the xenobiotic compounds from oysters living in the contaminated location might represent a significant adverse effect to their larval population of wild seeds.

• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 2005

Bioassay using the marine bacteria, Vibrio fischeri and rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis, and chemical analyses were conducted to assess the toxicity of the various sewage sludges, one of the major ocean dumped materials in the Yellow Sea of Korea. Sludge elutriates extracted by filtered seawater were used to estimate the ecotoxicity of the sludge. Chemical characterization included the analyses of organic contents, heavy metals, and persistent organic pollutants in sludge. Bacterial bioluminescent inhibition (15 min), rotifer mortality (24 hr) and rotifer population growth inhibition (48 hr) assay were conducted to estimate the sludge toxicity. EC50 15 min (inhibition concentration of bioluminescence after 15 minutes exposed) values by Microtox(R) bioassay clearly revealed different toxicity levels depending on the sludge sources. Highest toxicity for the bacteria was found with the sludge extract from dyeing waste and followed by industrial waste, livestock waste, and leather processing waste. Clear toxic effects on the bacteria were not found in the sludge extract from filtration bed sludge and rural sewage sludge. Consistent with Microtox(R) results, rotifer neonate mortality and population growth inhibition test also showed highest toxicity in dyeing waste and low in filtration bed and rural sewage sludge. High concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals were measured in the samples from the industrial wastes, leather processing plant waste sludge, and urban sewage sludge. However, there was no significant correlation between pollutant concentration levels and the toxicity values of the sludge. This suggests that the ecotoxicity in addition to the chemical analyses of various sludge samples must be estimated before release of potential harmful waste in the natural environment as part of an ecological risk assessment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.160-167
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• 2006

Harpacticoid copepod Tigriopus japonicus is widely distributed in coastal waters of Korea and plays important role in marine trophic structure as a first consumer. In this study, a series of experiment were conducted to test the potential of the species as a standard test species for marine bioassay. Tolerance on salinity and pH, sensitivity on the reference materials(copper sulfate and cadmium chloride) and response on the ocean dumping materials(waste sludge) we re tested to identify if the species satisfy the basic criteria as standard species for marine bioassay. The nauplius of the species($100{\sim}200{\mu}m$) showed wide tolerance on salinity with >90.0% survival rates exposed to $5.0{\sim}35.0psu$ for 48 h. Wide adaptability on pH's were also observed from 6.3 to 8.2 with >90.0% survival rates during the test. $LC_{50}$ values for copper sulfate and cadmium chloride were $3.6{\pm}0.7ppm,\;1.7{\pm}0.8ppm$, respectively. The variations in mortality between replicates were less than 10.0%. Comparison of $LC_{50}$ values indicated that T. japonicus nauplius was lower sensitive to copper sulfate than the most marine crustaceans included copepods, however, the sensitivity of test animal to cadmium chloride higher than the adults of copepod T. japonicus, Paracalanus parvus, and marine rotifer Brachinonus plicatilis. There were significant concentration-response relationship in the mortality of T. japonicus nauplius using the elutriates of three ocean dumping materials(industrial waste sludge). 48 h $LC_{50}$ values we re $31.1{\pm}1.1%$ for the elutriate of sludge from leather processing company and $54.4{\pm}15.1%$ for that of dye production company. Based on the above experimental results, bioassay using benthic harpacticoid T. japonicus nauplius must be a good estimation tool for marine ecotoxicological assessment of waste or chemicals. Wide tolerance on the salinity and pH, and significant linear relationship between concentration and response(mortality) supported the high potential of the species as a standard test species.